Apparatus for spinning and twisting yarn.



PATENTED DEC. 5, 1905.

D. DESPRADELLE.

APPARATUS FOR SPINNING AND TWISTING YARN.

APPLICATION FILED FEB-11. 1905 VI n UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

DESIRE DESPRADELLE, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR To WILLIAM A. S ETSoN, or BOSTON, MASSAcHuSETTS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 5, 1905.

Application filed February 11, 1905- serial No. 245,261-

creased while at the same time making it possible to secure a more uniform product.

Heretofore various expedients have been proposed for securing the free rotation of the spinning-ring and its traveler; but the difficulty has still remained that the frictional action between the ring and its inclosing guide or casing was so variable and uncontrollable that individual rings-in the frame rotated at very different rates of speed, even the speed of rotation of the same ring for a continuous -period being very erratic and unreliable.

Moreover, it is also found that when the machine is stopped some of the rings will continue to rotate after the rotation of the spindle has ceased, thereby causing backwinding of the yarn upon the bobbin and increasing considerably the breakage of the yarn. I have discovered that this erratic and irregular action of the ring can be overcome by establishing and maintaining a condition of practically complete mobility for the traveler-ring, while at the same time keeping it under constant control, and the mounting of the traveler-ring in such manner as to suit these conditions constitutes the chief characteristic of this invention.

ring, but which is normally repelled from such contact as soon as the high-speed rotation of the ring is maintained. This action prevents the objectionable backwinding of the yarn on the bobbin.

While I have illustrated in the accompanying drawings one mode of embodying the I principle of this invention, it will be under stood that I do not confine myself to any specific form of controller, since the essential principle thereof may find embodiment in a variety of forms.

Referring to the drawings illustrative of the invention, Figure l is a plan view of a structure embodying my invention, a part of the traveler-ring being broken away. Fig. 2 is a vertical central section thereof on the plane indicated'by broken line 2 2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a horizontal section on the plane indicated by broken line 3 3 of Fig. 2. Fig. 4: is a side elevation of the complete structure. Fig. 5 is a detail showing the means for clamping the spring-tension device in place. Fig. 6 is a plan view of said clampingdevice. Fig. 7 is a detail view of one of the controller members or posts in the tipped back position which it assumes during the high-Speed rotation of the ring. Fig. 8 shows a modified form of controller niember or post.

I have found in actual practice that when the traveler-ring is rotated at a sufficiently high rate of speed to cause it to float from its support there results a combined movement that is both gyratory and undulatory, provided the ring is allowed sufficient freedom of movementthat is, the rotating ring gyrates slightly and also tends to tip or oscillate slightly from the horizontalplane when it is allowed perfect mobility or freedom of motion. In consequence of this tendency if the ring be confined by a rigid casing an undue disturbance is caused by the occasional and irregular contact with such confining means. I have therefore discarded entirely the principle of a rigid casing surrounding the ring which is incapable of conforming sufliciently to these gyratory and undulatorymovements of the ring, which I have found to be inevitable, and have invented a device so constructed and arranged as to conform or respond to these various movements of the ring, while at the same time maintaining antomatically a direct control of the ring, so as to govern its rotation and render it'uniform.

I will now describe one of the forms of construction capable of maintaining the proper conditions for permitting the desired mobility of the ring while keeping it under proper control.

For convenience of attachment to the ringrail I providea base member 60, adapted to be secured to the rail in any suitable manner. Upon this base is mounted the controller, which in this instance is shown as comprising a plurality of loosely or yieldingly mounted guides or posts 0, having horizontal slots or grooves formed in position to receive a flanged portion of the traveler-ring e, as indicated at d. The posts or controller members 0 rest loosely in recesses 6, formed in the base member a, so as to be allowed a slight rocking or tilting motion toward and away from the ring, while arranged to normally rest against or in contact with the ring when the ring is at rest. This may be accomplished, as shown, by forming the lower ends or seats of the controller members or posts obliquely, so that the posts tip or incline slightly toward the ring by their own weight.

In practice when a machine is started in op eration the rotation of the spindle causes the traveler g to travel around the ring, which is then at rest, at a rapidly-increasing speed. The lateral or transverse strain of the yarn against the ring is transmitted through the traveler to the ring, causing a gyratory movement of the whole ring, which results in opening or thrusting out-the controller members, which normally press against the ring. This gyratory movement of the ring soon becomes so rapid as to cause a substantially simultaneous repulsion of all the controller members, which then stand out away from the ring somewhat, as indicated in Fig. 7, leaving it entirely free to rotate and float at high velocity. A thin Zone or film of air is maintained about the periphery of the ring, which by its repellent or centrifugal force tends to keep the ring and the controller members slightly separated from each other and which acts as an elastic-fluid medium between the ring and the controller.

The weight or gravity of the controller members as arranged tends to offer a resistance to the centrifugal action of the rapidlyrotating ring, and as in this case the controller members are relatively light and easily moved this resistance is increased by spring tension, which is shown as applied in a manner to yieldingly counteract the outward movement or spreading open of, the controller members and to reinforce the centripetal tendency of the controller members.

The tendency of the controller toward the ring should be sufficiently pronounced to cause it to act as a drag upon the ring by its pressure upon the thin film of air surrounding and rotating with the ring, so that the ring is not permitted to race ahead of the spindle, and yet so that the slight friction exerted through the medium of the pressure thus produced upon the film of air will not interfere with the attainment of the desired speed of the ring rotation.

The guide-posts or controller members 0 may be made of a non-heating antifriction ma-.

terial, at least where they come in contact with the flange of the traveler-ring, because of the frictional contact between the ring and the controller members during the starting up of the ring. I find it practical to make these posts of rawhide and have also made them, as shown in Fig. 8, of an outer metal shell 0, provided with an interior filling or core of graphite.

The small and light controller members employed in this form of the invention are repelled or thrown outward by the centrifugal action of the ring as soon as a sufiiciently high speed of rotation is reached. If the controller members be left perfectly free to expand away from the ring, there will be a tendency on the part of the ring to rotate too rapidly relative to the speed of the rotating spindle. This can be overcome without disturbing the mobility of the ring by the application of a light tension to the controller members, which tension serves also to increase the retarding or braking action of the controller for quickly stopping the rotation of the ring when the machine is stopped. A very satisfactory solution of this problem consists in providing means for varying and regulating the action of the controller upon the ring to suit the particular needs or requirements of different speeds and conditions met with in actual practice. The practical form of embodying this principle, as herein illustrated, consists of a regulator for the controller comprising an annulus or casing e', to which is secured a series of independent springs Z, arranged so that each will press lightly against the outside of one of the controller members 0, the latter being provided, as shown, with horizontal notches or grooves in their outside faces to receive said springs. The arrangement of the springs is such that their pressure against the controller members is lightest at their free ends and greatest near the ends that are fast to their support 2'. Obviously with this arrangement the turning of the annulus 2' in a clockwise direction (according to the illustration in Fig. 3) will result in an increased pressure of the springs against the controller, while the adjustment of the regulator in the reverse direction results in diminishing the pressure upon the controller, thus permitting the expansion or opening outward of the controller to a greater extent.

To prevent accidental disarrangement or displacement of the tension-regulator from its desired position of adjustment, any suitable means may be provided for holding it locked or clamped in place. Such means are shown in the drawings as consisting of a flat ring m, having upturned flanges 12. forming clampingfingers to engage and grip the annulus or casing 2', which carries the springs Z, said clam ping-ring on being also provided with suitable struck-up projections (indicated at 0) arranged to engage the projecting lug b of the base member a, in which the posts are mounted, as indicated most clearly in Fig. 3. The frictional engagement between the fingers n of the non-rotatable clamping-ring m and the casing 2' is such as to hold the casing against accidental rotation while permitting it to be turned by the hand of the operator.

It will be understood that the construction and arrangement shown and described may be greatly varied without departing from the underlying principle of the invention, since I am the first to provide means for exerting a constant control over the rotation of a freelymovable rotating ring.

Without attempting to set forth the manifold changes in form, construction, and arrangement that may be made in the practice of my invention or to indicate the various modes of its application to practical use, what I claim is 1. In a machine for spinning yarn, the combination of a rotatable traveler-ring, andan expansible and contractible controller construct ed and arranged to be repelled from contact with the rotating ring by the centrifugal action of the ring during its rotation.

2. In a machine for spinning yarn, the combination of a rotatable traveler-ring, and a controller having a normal tendency to press against the ring, said controller being constructed and arranged to be expanded or repelled from contact with the ring during the normal rotation of the ring.

3. In a machine for spinning yarn, the combination of a rotatable traveler-ring, and a controller constructed and arranged to freely accommodate itself to the undulatory and gyratory movements of the ring when the ring is rotating at its normal operative speed.

4. In a machine for spinning yarn, the combination of a rotatable ring, and means for exerting a uniform control over the ring during its normal rotation in order to maintain a constant speed of rotation.

5. In a machine for spinning yarn, the combination of a rotatable traveler-ring, and centripetal guides arranged to control the ring during its rotation.

6. In a machine for spinning yarn, the combination of a rotatable traveler-ring, a series of independent guides arranged to engage said ring while it is at rest and to separate away from the ring while the ring is rotating.

7. In a machine for spinning yarn, the combination of a rotatable traveler-ring provided with guides for keeping it in operative position, said guides being mounted to move into frictional contact with said ring to retard its rotation when the speed is diminished below the normal.

8. A controller for a rotary traveler-ring comprising a base member and a series of guides loosely mounted therein, said guides being constructed and arranged to engage a traveler-ring and control its rotation.

9. A controller for a rotary traveler-ring embracing in its construction, loosely-mounted guides arranged to engage a traveler-ring, and a tension device arranged to yieldingly press the guides of the traveler-ring toward a common center.

10. A controller for a rotary traveler-ring embracing a series of loosely-mounted guides, said guides being provided with antifrictionbearing recesses for engaging a ring and being arranged to normally press inwardly.

11. The above-described guide-post for a traveler-ring controller, comprising a post of rawhide having a horizontal notch or recess on one side adapted to receive the flange of a traveler-ring.

12. A controller embracing in its constructiona series of guides for controlling a traveler-ring, and means for regulating the action of said guides in relation to the ring in order to govern the speed of rotation of the ring while in normal operation.

13. In a device of the class described, the combination of a rotatable traveler ring, means for controlling and guiding the ring during its rotation while permitting its gyration, and means for regulating the action of said controlling means to govern the rotation of the ring.

14:. In a device of the class described, the combination of a rotatable traveler ring, a controller constructed and arranged to be expanded away from the ring while permitting the centrifugal action of the ring during its rotation, and means for regulating the resistance of the controller to the centrifugal action of the ring in order to govern the rotation of the ring, substantially as described.

15. In a device of the class described, the combination of a rotatabletraveler ring, an eXpansible controller in which the ring is loosely mounted, and means for regulating the controller in relation to the ring so as to modify or vary the speed of rotation of the ring, substantially as described.

16. In a device of the class described, the

combination of a rotary traveler -ring, centripetal controller members arranged about the periphery of the ring to support and control the same, and means for regulating the centripetal tendency of the controller in order to govern the rotation of the ring, substantially as described.

17. In a device of the class described, the combination of a rotary traveler ring, a series of independently-movable members for controlling said ring, a tension device provided with a spring for each controller member arranged to normally press the controller members toward the ring, substantially as described. I

18. In a device of the class described, the combination of a rotary traveler ring, independent controller members for supporting and guiding the ring arranged to automatically adjust themselves to the gyratory and undulatory movements of the ring, and means for applying difierent degrees of tension to said controller members in order to regulate the speed of the ring, substantially as described. 4

19. In a device of the class described, the combination of a rotatable traveler -ring, a series of guides arranged to accommodate themselves to the movements of the rotating ring. an adjustable tension device for regulating the action of said controller members in relation to the ring, and means for retaining the tension device in its different positions of adjustment.

20. In a device of the class described, the combination of a rotatable traveler-ring, controller members, comprising loosely-mounted guides having loose engagement With said ring, an adjustable tension device embracing springs having engagement with said conthe movable supporting guide-posts c c tl1erefor, substantially as described.

In Witness whereof I have hereunto set my 3 5 hand this 7th day of Ijebruary, 1905.

DESIRE DESPRADELLE. In presence of GEO. N. GODDARD, KATHARINE A. DUGAN. 

